The invention relates to a multifunctional protective textile for protective garments and accessories made from high strength fibers, said garments and accessories are abrasion resistant, improved penetration resistant, laceration resistant, and flame resistant, the textile is made from a flame resistant knitted outer layer made of a first yarn containing modacrylic or aramid fibers; and, a penetration resistant knitted inner layer made of a second yarn made from 50-90% HBA/HNA filaments, as well as methods of manufacturing yarn, methods of manufacturing a textile using the yarn, and apparel made from the yarn.
Woven, knitted and nonwoven fabrics are useful in a wide variety of hazardous industrial, medical, military, law enforcement, construction, sports, and home environments where the fabrics may be subjected to sharp objects which can abrade, cut or penetrate the fabric.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,255 is a soft body-armor invention touted as being comparatively lightweight, in that a vest made of multilayered sheets or woven fiber antiballistic cloth comprised of ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) filaments. As with all antiballistic clothing, the antiballistic characteristics are obtained not only from the strength of the materials used, but from the use of multiple layering, both increasing weight and decreasing ease of use.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,010,811 specifically discloses a soft body-armor product described as lightweight, and claims a material comprising an assembly of woven fabric plies sporting a collective mass per square foot of no more than 1 pound. With such material, a vest for a standard-sized adult would weigh nearly 9 pounds.
Despite their antiballistic qualities, known materials in the soft body armor field have a number of drawbacks. For example, materials such a Kevlar and Dyneema have a tendency to be both substantially heavier and rougher to the touch than synthetic and natural-fiber clothing without antiballistic capability. Antiballistic fabrics also tend not to breath, and can cause discomfort and even incapacitate a wearer in environments with high heat and humidity. Equally importantly, the qualities that allow antiballistic fabrics to spread and deflect the energy of a ballistic projectile do not provide sufficient protection against non-ballistic forces able to damage the wearer with a puncture or cut, such as nails or knives.
In addition to antiballistic fabrics, there is a need for protective apparel such as gloves that include abrasion-resistant, cut-resistant, thermal resistant, and/or fire-resistant yarn. However, many prior attempts have generated unsatisfactory products, such as being irritating to the skin, being too heavy or inflexible for most applications, having a limited wear life, addressing only one resistance aspect, requiring the use of metal wire or powder fillers, requiring chemical coatings, being difficult to manufacture, or being so uncomfortable to wear or use that it discourages use of the product.